“Sorry to interrupt. Let me get you that check.” Sitting down at my desk, I reach into the top drawer and pull out my checkbook. While I’m filling it out, Beau stands and walks over to me.
He’s positioned a foot or so away. When I glance up at him, I notice his eyes aren’t on me or the check, they’re on my desk. I follow his gaze and am suddenly filled with horror. The form Charlotte filled out is sitting face up on the desk, open to all of those filthy consent questions. Quickly, I grab it and flip it over, but I catch the way he tenses, his eyes narrowing with judgment. My son is disgusted by me. And at the moment, I can’t say I blame him.
Luckily, there’s no way for him to know it’s Charlotte who filled out that form.
“How much do you need?” I ask.
“My half was one thousand.”
My shoulders drop. “How much to get you through the next couple months, son?”
“I don’t need your money,” he snaps.
“I’m not giving it to you because you need it. I’m giving it to you because I want to.”
“Well, I don’t want it.”
“Beau…” Charlotte’s soft voice breaks through as she comes to stand next to him. “He’s just trying to help.”
I wince. The last thing I want is for her to take my side, no matter how good it feels. It will only drive him further away from me.
“He thinks he can pay for everything and that it will just solve all of our problems,” he says, staring coldly at my face.
“No, I don’t.”
Charlotte breaks in again, this time with a hand on his arm. “At least he’s trying. My dad hasn’t even spoken to me in months, let alone tried to help me or my family financially.”
Beau looks at her, and his expression softens. Come on, son. Do it for her.
“Fine,” he says.
I fill out the check for ten grand, and tell him to come back for more when he needs it. It feels like bait, but I don’t care. Anything that brings him back into my life. Even if he’s mad at me because of it.
Charlotte looks pleased for a moment as I hand him the check, so I don’t know why I say what comes out of my mouth next. Self-preservation, I guess.
“Why don’t you take Charlotte out for dinner?” I say, and her head snaps in my direction. “If she wants to, of course.”
Digging into my pocket, I find my wallet and pull out a hundred-dollar bill. Beau stares at Charlotte with hope in his eyes, but she’s still watching me.
I need Charlotte to no longer be an option. If she’s really with Beau, then I no longer have to resist the urge to have her for myself because the choice would be taken away.
I hate the way she’s staring at me right now, disappointment and anger and guilt all rolled into one.
“What do you say, babe? Want to grab some dinner with me?” He squeezes an arm around her waist, and I have to look away.
“Sure,” she replies softly, and it kills me.
After she gathers her things, she sends me a small wave goodbye, which is more than my own son can manage. I return her wave with a nod of my head. Watching her walk away with him is torture. But I’m doing this to myself for a good reason. Charlotte is not mine, no matter how much it feels like she is.
RULE #22: IF YOU WANT IT, TAKE IT.
Charlotte
“Maybe instead of going out, we can order in and go hang out at your place,” Beau says, as he puts his hand on my thigh while I drive. He had a friend drop him off at his dad’s, which makes me wonder if this was his plan all along. My skin is prickling just from his touch.
I can’t tell if Beau’s changed, I’ve changed, or the entire dynamic between us has. But there is no chemistry, no sparks or any kindling of what we had before. This guy I used to be so smitten over, who I let bring me down so low…can’t hurt me anymore.
I don’t feel like the same girl he broke up with, and maybe I’m not. I like this new version of me, the one Emerson helped build back up.
God, even the thought of his name makes me feel queasy. We had a moment, and I’m pretty sure we were about to have an even bigger moment, but then Beau showed up and Emerson couldn’t pawn me off fast enough. It hurt, especially after that whole ‘you have no idea what I want to do to you’ speech. The second his son walked through that door, my hope shattered.
“Umm…that sounds good. Pizza?”
“Sure. We can just order it from your place.”
“Okay,” I reply with a forced smile.
“So, you really like working for my dad?” he asks.
“Yeah. I do. And he says I could easily work my way up into business management.”
Beau scoffs. “Not with that business, I hope.”
My hand grips the steering wheel as I pull into the driveway. I don’t know how much Emerson makes public about the club, or if he still uses the dating service as a front, so I decide to keep it discreet. “What’s wrong with the company?”
“You know what they do there, Charlie. Come on. Don’t act stupid.”
“I’m not acting stupid,” I bite back. Just then, I spot my little sister across the yard, and my heart sinks. She’s sitting out front with one of her friends, both of them on their phones as she looks up and spots Beau getting out of my car.
Fuck.
“Hey, Smurf. You want some pizza?” I call.
Her eyes track back and forth between Beau and me before she shakes her head. “No thanks.”
Regret hits me hard. Sophie is disappointed in me, and I hate it. She never liked Beau, so she’s certainly not going to be joining us for pizza.
“Come on, babe,” Beau says, draping an arm over my shoulder, and I can feel Sophie watching us as we disappear into the backyard, heading straight for the pool house. Everything in me is telling me to call this off, drive him home, and forget this ever happened. Beau clearly has expectations about tonight and I really don’t want to have to let him down. Because that is not happening.
Two hours ago, I thought it was Emerson I’d be cozying up to.
When we get inside my small studio, I check my phone, looking for anything from Emerson, but there’s only silence. Beau drops onto my bed, and he seems in such a better mood than before that I almost feel bad that I have to break it to him that tonight is not going to end the way he wants.
“I’m going to change out of these clothes,” I tell him, walking toward the bathroom, but he snatches me by the hand before I can make it there.
“Charlie, wait.”
Suddenly, I’m on his lap. And I don’t say anything. Why don’t I say anything?
“I didn’t want to be alone with you just for sex,” he says, and my eyes widen.
“Beau, we’re not—"
“I really do want another chance. I know I was a shitty boyfriend. I was just going through stuff with my dad.”
My shoulders soften, and sympathy floods my system.
“Why didn’t you ever confide in me?” I don’t bring up the cheating part because that’s where things get heated and it becomes impossible to get him to talk or open up about anything.
“I was embarrassed,” he replies gently. “I didn’t want you knowing my dad was a…freak.”
“He’s not a freak,” I bite back.
“He might as well be a porn star or a pimp, Charlie. His whole job revolves around sex and some really kinky shit. It’s not normal—"
“It is normal, though,” I argue, trying to get out of his arms, but he holds me tight. I hate that I’m not fighting harder. And it’s like he doesn’t even hear me, as he goes on and on about how terrible his dad is. Bile rises up my throat.
“And I thought that if he was some sex freak…maybe I was too. That’s why I…did what I did.”
My spine stiffens. “Are you serious right now?” I snap. “You’re going to blame your dad for you cheating on me? You letting some new girl at work give you a blow job in the break room was because your dad owns a sex club?”
I see the argument building in him, but I feel so hot and angry right now, I could scream.
“I told you that was the biggest mistake of my life. I told you I was going through a lot, and—"
“Beau, we broke up for a reason. We weren’t right together…”